New research shows that the number of teenagers illegally sharing music has fallen dramatically in the past year. The survey of 1,000 fans also shows that many14 to 18 year olds are now streaming music regularly online using services such as YouTube and Spotify.
ICANN Considers Trademark Database to Fight Cybersquatting
The Internet's key oversight agency is considering a centralized database of trademark holders, to cut down on questionable registrations of new Internet addresses. Backers of the idea say it is needed so trademark holders won't have to spend thousands of dollars registering domain names defensively, to block someone from registering them and trying to profit -- a practice known as "cybersquatting."
FTC May Require Disclosures for Paid Sponsorships Online
The Federal Trade Commission is taking a hard look at paid sponsorships online and may soon require online media to comply with disclosure rules under its truth-in-advertising guidelines. A draft of the new rules was posted for public comments this year and the staff is to make a formal recommendation to be presented to the commissioners for a vote, perhaps by early fall.
All Headline News, AP Settle "Hot News" Lawsuit
AHN Media has agreed to pay an undisclosed amount to the Associated Press to settle a lawsuit in which the AP accused AHN of rewriting AP stories and putting AHN's name on them, the companies announced. In the settlement, AHN admitted to improperly using AP content in many instances, according to a joint news release published on the AP Web site.
IBM Sued Over Patents on Integrated Circuit Products
Patent licensing firm Mosaid Technologies said it was taking IBM to court for allegedly infringing on six of Mosaid's U.S. patents. Mosaid said the long-running dispute was over IBM's making and selling of microprocessor and application specific integrated circuit products.
Rosetta Stone Sues Google Over Ad Keywords
Rosetta Stone, the language-learning software firm, said it has filed a lawsuit against Google for trademark infringement, alleging the Internet search giant allowed other companies to use Rosetta Stone's trademark brand for online advertisements without permission. In the suit filed with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Rosetta Stone asked the court to stop Google from allowing other firms -- including competitors -- to use its trademarks to sell ads associated with online searches.
Web Founder Wants Limits on Internet Snooping
Governments and companies should limit the snooping they do on web users. So said Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the world wide web, who said that growing oversight of browsing could have a pernicious effect.
Web Attacks on U.S., South Korea Could Delete Data
The denial-of-service attacks against Web sites in the U.S. and South Korea may have stopped for now, but code on the infected bots was set to wipe data, security experts said. There were no immediate reports of any of the compromised PCs in the botnet having files deleted, but that doesn't mean it wasn't happening or won't in the future, said Gerry Egan, a product manager in Symantec's Security Technology Response group.
Power.com Sues Facebook Over Rights to User Data
Power.com, a San Francisco based aggregator of social networking sites, sued Facebook in a California court to try to resolve who owns data on social networking websites -- users or the sites. Power says it plans to take a stand in its lawsuit to ensure that users have rights to "complete and total" ownership and control of their content, and to protect their content from other users and corporate entities.
Calif. Health Companies Report 800 Data Breaches
Health care organizations in California have filed over 800 reports of breaches this year since new law came into the effect, according to a report in the Journal of the American Health Information Management Association.
Blogger in Azerbaijan Arrested for Hooliganism
An opposition blogger in Azerbaijan has been remanded in custody pending trial on hooliganism charges, prompting protests from his employer, oil major BP Plc, a media rights group said on its website. Adnan Hajizade, a video blogger and member of the "OL!" opposition movement, was arrested along with youth activist Emin Milli at a cafe in Baku on July 8, after they were beaten up by two men, Reporters Without Borders said.
Google Adds Rights Filter to Image Search
In an effort to keep people from incorrectly reusing or repurposing images found on its image search tool, Google has added new options that let users filter results by usage rights. Users can now filter photos by whether they're available for reuse, commercial reuse, reuse with modification, or commercial use with modification.
More U.S., S. Korean Targets Hit by Cyberattacks
A fresh wave of cyber attacks that slowed U.S. and South Korean websites hit more targets, a Web security firm said, while the South's spy agency has said the hacking may be linked to North Korea. The impact of the attacks, aimed so far at dozens of sites including the White House and the South's presidential office, was seen as negligible, experts said, but served as a reminder that Pyongyang has been planning for cyber warfare.
EU Telecom Chief Calls for New Downloading Rules
The European Union needs new rules for Internet downloads that would make it easier for people to access music and films thout resorting to piracy, the bloc's telecoms chief said. Mapping out priorities of the EU's executive arm for the next five years, EU Telecommunications Commissioner Viviane Reding said it should consider new laws that would reconcile the interests of intellectual property owners and Internet surfers.
N.Y. Attorney General Plans to Sue Tagged.com
Andrew Cuomo, New York's attorney general, has announced he intends to sue the spammy social network Tagged.com "for deceptive e-mail marketing practices and invasion of privacy," according to a statement put out by his office. Tagged, Mr. Cuomo said, illegally tried to lure new members by tricking visitors into providing their personal address books, which the company used to send out more invitations.
British Police Probe Reporters' Cell Phone Hacking
Britain's most senior police officer said he had ordered a preliminary inquiry into reports by The Guardian newspaper that Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper subsidiary paid about $1.6 million to settle court cases involving allegations that its reporters worked with private investigators to hack into the cell phone messages of numerous public figures.
NYSE, Nasdaq Report Attacks on Their Websites
NYSE Euronext and Nasdaq OMX Group said their public Web sites were targets of "cyber attacks," though market operations were unaffected. Neither exchange would say whether the attacks were linked to a wide-ranging assault on other Web sites that included the U.S. Treasury, the State Department and the White House.
S. Korea Blames N. Korea for Cyberattacks
South Korean intelligence officials believe North Korea or pro-Pyongyang forces committed cyberattacks that paralyzed major South Korean and U.S. government websites, aides to two lawmakers said. The sites of 11 South Korean organizations, including the presidential Blue House and the Defense Ministry, went down or had access problems since late Tuesday, according to the state-run Korea Information Security Agency.
Microsoft Warns of Security Flaw in Explorer
Microsoft warned users about yet another serious security flaw related to its Internet Explorer browser for which there is no fix. Security firm Symantec said the vulnerability, which affects PCs using Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 operating software, is already being taken advantage of by cybercriminals.
Computer Attack Shuts Down Government Websites
The Associated Press has learned that a widespread computer attack that began July 4 knocked out the websites of several government agencies, including some that are responsible for fighting cyber crime.
